


They were going to be okay

by janjan_the_ninth



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coma, Detroit Evolution, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Octopunk Media, Panic Attacks, Self-Hatred, Swearing, and he'll get the hug, but first I let gavin suffer a bit, don't worry nines will wake from his coma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23670250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janjan_the_ninth/pseuds/janjan_the_ninth
Summary: What if Gavin hadn't said everything he wanted to say to the comatose Nines. What if something startled him, causing him to leave Nines alone in his fight against Ada's program.The case was closed, Ada was with New Jericho and Gavin returned to Nines.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 10
Kudos: 181





	They were going to be okay

**Author's Note:**

> This work is for the amazing Reed900 fan film 'Detroit Evolution' from Octopunkmedia which is aviable on Youtube. If you haven't seen it yet, I can recomment it. It has everything your heart desires.
> 
> Something that Michelle mentioned that happened while filming the coma scene, gave me the idea for this little tweak of said scene. A bit of the dialog is taken right out of the film. 
> 
> This work will mention panic attacks (in form of struggling to breath), will include self-hatred on Gavins part and swearing. Please take care.
> 
> Thank you to Michelle for creating this brilliant fan film.  
> Thank you to AJ for beta-reading this fanfiction.

Gavin paced down the hallway, fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweatshirt. Sleeves that had seen much abuse in the last few days. He already picked loose a thread causing the sleeve to unravel a bit. He tried to deny it but he was nervous. No, nervous was the wrong word. He was fucking terrified of what he would find on the other side of the door. Admitting it in his head didn’t make it any better. It left him light headed or was it the raising panic in his chest? The world around him suddenly felt too loud and too quiet at the same time. He recognised the beginning of a panic attack and paused his pacing around. Instead he leant his back against the wall trying to will the panic attack away. He slid down the wall and put his head between his knees, trying to get his breathing under control. 

_In and out. In and out. That’s it._

What an image he presented right now. His face unshaven, hair uncombed and bags under his eyes as big as fucking Detroit. He also might not have changed his clothes often enough. 

He could count himself lucky that no one else was using this hallway right now. Yeah, no one else would be up at four in the morning on a fucking week day. No one except for one fucked up Detective who always messed everything up. Which he did, again… He hadn’t been there in 8 days, hadn’t seen him in 8 days. Tina's bullying was the only reason why he was there at all. And yet he still hadn't been able to gather his courage to knock at the fucking door next to him. The fucking door that was haunting the few hours he was actually sleeping. This door and the alley where it happened. His normal night terrors where nothing compared to what his dreams were looking like at the moment. Tina was the reason for this being his first visit in 8 days. His nightmares the reason why it was at 4am. 

What wouldn’t he give for his jacket’s hood right now. To pull it over his head and pretend that this wasn’t real. Just a figment of his imagination. Gavin’s personal nightmare. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting the train of thought. This was real and he couldn’t change a thing that happened. It was out of his control. A lot of things were, these days. But what wasn’t out of his control was going towards this one door. And yet, he hadn’t done it. “Fucking great Gavin. Just fucking great. You can’t even do a thing this simple.” 

Great, now he started talking to himself. Maybe he should just get over with it before he went completely batshit crazy. Taking a deep breath he pushed himself up. _In and out._ He quickly knocked on the door before his courage could leave him and he would have fled to the safety of his own flat. After waiting for a few seconds, he entered. There was a low glow emitting from a little lamp next to the bed... and from the unmoving body inhabiting said bed as well. 

He swallowed hard before he finally closed the door behind him. There was no turning back now. His eyes didn’t leave Nines’ body as he was walking around the bed to sit down in the chair next to the bed. The same chair he sat in 8 days ago. It’s been 8 days since Nines had gotten attacked and had been left to die. Suddenly he couldn’t look at Nines’ face anymore. Couldn’t look at the face that normally smirked back at him, or shot him an annoyed glance at his jokes before retorting with one of his own. The face that sometimes lit up the whole room with its smile and the raw emotions in its eyes. That stupid flawless face with this stupid grin that made his heart flutter. It hurt to see Nines stoic. It reminded him of the beginning of their partnership and how awful he was towards his partner back then. Gavin averted his gaze. Instead he looked at the android’s white hand. Hesitantly he reached out to take it in his own. 

“I perhaps I should have brought some flowers, shouldn’t I?”, he joked, looking at the flowers Nines’ and his co-workers left. 

__He didn’t knew if he started talking because he thought that Nines could hear him or if it was to break the overwhelming silence which was only interrupted by the beeping of the monitor. But once he started, he couldn’t stop talking._ _

__“So, uhm… it’s been a few days since I’ve been, well since I’ve visited you.” An awkward chuckle left him. “It’s been a busy week I guess. The others probably already told you so but we found Ada. We found her and she wasn’t a deviant. She was following orders given to her years ago, by a billionaire with a fucking god complex and no choice in that matter.” He paused, thinking about the disdain clear in his voice. A year ago, heck even 9 months ago, it wouldn’t have been there. Nines changed him so much, for the better._ _

__“In any other situation we would have used any kind of force to apprehend a killer, but this was different. I… I was able to take her in without killing her, but I still wounded her badly. New Jericho is now handling her case, after your Robo-Jesus deviated her. They even found a lawyer who will defend her and Markus is working on a law to help deviants who were forced to do illegal shit while they were still a machine. I guess everything turned out well for a fucked up murder investigation. Well, everything except for one thing.”_ _

__Gavin shifted in his seat. Now that he finished talking about work, talking didn’t seem so easy anymore. Work was a safe topic. Every other topic wasn’t. Every other topic, that even came close to talking about his emotions, was dangerous. Eight days ago, Tina encouraged him to talk to Nines about his feelings. He didn’t know why he agreed. Probably because it was easier to say all this shit when Nines wasn’t awake to reject him. He didn’t even remember what he had said to him. It wasn’t much, though. He remembered something about mentioning Tina’s and Chris' bet. After a few sentences he had looked at Nines’ face and there were tears streaming down his cheeks. Nines didn’t move, didn’t even twitch and yet he was crying. The next sentence that had already been on the tip of his tongue was now stuck in his throat, causing him to have trouble breathing properly. He had to get out of there. He fled the room, ignoring Tina’s cries for him to stop. He didn’t even turn around, fearing that he’d see Nines’ crying face through the observation window. As if said image wasn’t already burned into his mind. Again, he fucked every up._ _

__He needed to make a joke, a snarky comment. Anything to escape the depressing atmosphere. “Work had been quite relaxing when I did have you breathing down my neck at every second. Got quite a lot more work done like this. ” He winced. Yeah, that sounded wrong even to his own ears. A mirthless smirk formed on his lips. Now he was insulting Nines while said android wasn't even awake to give him as much shit as he gave him. And what if there actually was something true about coma patients allegedly being able to hear everything people said to them while being unconscious. Then Nines would probably think he actually was glad that he was gone. He fucked up again. He had to make it right._ _

__“No, that’s not… I didn’t mean…” He swallowed hard, feeling the threat of panic bubbling up in his chest._ _

_In and out. In and out._

___“What I actually wanted to say is… I missed you.” There it was, the truth. He missed Nines so much. He missed having his partner around, his best friend. “It’s true that I got more work done than I normally do, but that’s cause I hardly left the precinct at all. I had no one to send me home at night. Sure Tina and Chris tried, but they aren't you. You weren't around to look out for me and I tried to distract myself from that.” A shaky breath left him. “You were always there for me, always looked out and cared for me, even when I pushed you away. And in the one moment I should have been there for you, should have looked out for you, I wasn’t there. I wasn't able to figure it out, too blinded by my jealousy for Ada.”_ _ _

Gavin paused. That was it, the main reason this shit show even happened. He was unable to see the thing that was happening right in front of them, the threat that was so close, because he was fucking jealous. Nines deserved an apology for this. And for all the other shit Gavin made him go through. It was now or never. 

“That’s the core of it. I think. I was jealous of Ada of all people, cause she was interested in you. No, not that. It’s cause she was actually able to show her interest in you. Unlike a certain mess of a Detective. I… I pushed you away, rather than to admit to myself that I care about you, that I need you.” His breath hitched and the words felt like lead of his tongue. But he couldn't stop now. He owed this to Nines. 

“You are my partner, you are my best friend and you are this force in my life that I can’t live without. I don’t wanna go back. I can’t go back to being without you. The last few days showed me that. No matter what happens, you’ve never given up on me. Please, come back to me Nines.” The end of the sentence was barely more than a whisper and his voice broke at Nines’ name. 

___Gavin refused to cry. He couldn't cry now. It would make it more real than it already was. Crying now meant that it was final. That there was no hope left._ _ _

___Instead he fixated on Nines’ hand that he held in his. He had seen Nines’ hand without his skin before. Sometimes it had happened when Nines was handing him his coffee or when he sometimes had touched his back while leaning over his shoulder to look over some case files. And then… and then it had happened when he had held him after his night terror._ _ _

___He squeezed Nines’ hand. He was a Detective, a pretty good one if you’d ask him. Of course he figured out what that meant. Yet he decided to ignore it. It was too good to be true. Something like this just didn't happen to people like him. In the back of his mind he noticed how the beeping of the machines changed for a moment. Yet he paid it no mind. Acknowledging it meant that he’d get his hopes up._ _ _

___He caressed Nines’ hand, running his thumb over Nines’ knuckles. If he tuned out everything around him and only looked at the white hand that lay in his, he could pretend. Pretend, just for a moment, that everything was back to normal. That the horror of the past days didn't happen at all. That he wasn’t alone again. Yeah, pretending sounded good._ _ _

___Gavin was so lost in his thoughts that he was startled shitless and he jumped out of his chair, when Nines suddenly sat straight in his bed. But he didn't let go of Nines’ hand._ _ _

___The LED on his temple was circling in an angry red and at first Nines’ face was a stoic mask. For a short moment Gavin feared that Adas interface had won and reset Nines. Then he noticed the tear tracks running down Nines’ cheeks. They stared at each other._ _ _

___“Nines?” He hated how unsure he sounded. Nothing happened. He held his breath. “Nines, are you ok?”, he tried again, still hating how shaky his voice was._ _ _

___This seemed to break the dam. The android sacked forwards, right into Gavin’s arms, clinging to him as if his life depended on it. And he clinged back just as strong. Gavin couldn't say how long they stayed like this. Secure in each other’s embrace._ _ _

___After a while, they broke the embrace. But they were still touching each other. Gavin’s hands laid on Nines’ left hand and his right knee. Nines’ other hand was holding onto Gavin’s shoulder. They couldn't break apart, not yet. Both of them had to make sure that the other was actually here, that they both were safe._ _ _

___Nines looked at him. He was probably already cataloging what a bad condition Gavin was in. Stupid tin can. “Visiting me at Cyberlife at 4am. Now I really know that you missed me.” Of course the first thing he did was call him out. Why did he miss him again?_ _ _

___“You undead asshole. You’ve been in the android equivalent of a coma for eight days? How did you wake up? Why now?”, Gavin asked, even though he didn't want to hear the answer. He had a hunch to what the reason could be and he didn’t know what he’d do if it was true._ _ _

___Nines answered his question, not noticing Gavin’s inner tumult at all. Or maybe he did notice and still continued out of spite. Who knew what going on in that plastic brain of his. “I heard you. Your voice broke through.” No, it wasn’t spite that made Nines say that. The way he spoke was… soft, full of adoration. Adoration he didn’t deserve._ _ _

___“God damn it. You, you heard everything I said?” He stumbled over the sentence and averted his gaze. This… this could change everything._ _ _

___“Every word. A force you can’t live without?” Gavin didn’t even need to see Nines' face to know that the idiot was smirking._ _ _

___“I… hate you”, he replied weakly. There was nothing more he could do. Nines squeezed his shoulder which caused Gavin to look up again._ _ _

___“You love me.” There it was again. The adoration. Gavin couldn’t deny his feeling anymore. Nines was right, of course he was. He loved Nines. The hand on his shoulder disappeared only to cup his face. Gavin couldn’t help himself and leaned into the touch. This was all Nines needed to lean forward, to capture Gavin’s lips with his own. The kiss was everything Gavin dreamed about, and more. It was perfect. When they broke the kiss he couldn’t fight the urge to give him shit about it. It was what they always did._ _ _

___“What dipshit programmed you to do that?”, he asked, his voice full of happiness and unshed tears._ _ _

___Nines didn't seem to be in any better condition. A sound between a sob and laugh left Nines, before he answered. “I’m the most advanced android ever made Detective.”_ _ _

___“Ah, you’re such a prick”, Gavin retorted, unable to keep his smile out of his voice._ _ _

___“Takes one to know one.” This banter assured Gavin that everything was going to be okay. That they were going to be okay. With this in mind he leaned in for a second kiss. After all, they really had some catching up to do._ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this fanfiction. If you wanna yell with me about this fic and/or Detroit Evolution, you can do it here in the comments or message me on my tumblr (JanJan-the-Ninth) or Instagram (Janjan_nine). If you find any mistakes, please let me know.


End file.
